Building work on a Community Wellbeing Centre (CWC) in Dundee to help improve the city’s response to mental health challenges is set to be completed by the end of the year.
The Integration Joint Board of the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership will hear that “unavoidable delays” in this work at the city centre location, as well as the need to finalise a tender for an organisation to run a care support service, mean that it will be finished in December and not this month as previously indicated.
It is expected to be operational soon after that.
Chair of the IJB Councillor Ken Lynn said: “It is crucial that we get the CWC absolutely right in both terms of the building and the services it offers before the doors are opened. The CWC is located at the South Ward Road building of Dundee-based social landlord Hillcrest, a key stakeholder in the development.
“I would like to thank stakeholders from the third sector, carers and people with lived experience who have come together to bring decision-making closer to local communities and make it easier for local people to participate in this centre.
“Their input is vital to ensure that this centre offers the best help that it possibly can for people who are in crisis.
“A large amount of work is coming together so that we can have a co-designed centre that is really fit for purpose.”
A report to the IJB meeting on Wednesday August 24 explains that stakeholders have already had the opportunity to view the premises at South Ward Road and have been involved in the planning of the internal decoration and design of public rooms. This has included input into the shared space of the reception area and community café.
Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action has facilitated an inclusive communications and engagement plan, which includes promoting the centre, its purpose, how to access it, and how to get involved in its development. It will cover the period from now until the first few months of the centre’s operation.
A framework has also been developed that captures the journey of a person in distress, looking at before they arrive at the CWC, services provided while they are there and also after they leave.
Further discussions are still to take place around topics that overlap with other ongoing work, for example, technology and communications, referral protocols for NHS, Police and ambulance services, and identifying the organisations across the city that can support the work of the CWC.
Councillor Lynn added: “I would like to pay tribute to the teams from across services in Dundee who are making the idea of this centre a reality.
“It will make a significant contribution to our efforts to meet the many mental health challenges that are faced in this city. This centre will be a place for people that has been made by people, and I am sure its impact will be felt for many years to come.”